Chinese government censors bizarrely claimed that 'nobody was injured' in a 200ft high raging fireball that engulfed trucks on a motorway.

The massive explosion ripped through an overturned lorry and scorched another on the Qingdao–Yinchuan Expressway in the city of Zibo in Shandong Province, China, on July 19 2022.

Motorway CCTV cameras show the atomic bomb-like fireball roaring more than 200ft into the sky. The blast was so powerful that a wheel was ripped from the chassis and was flung through the air before rolling across the road.

The blaze continued for around 45 minutes before it was put out.

Astonishingly, Chinese Communist officials claimed there were 'no casualties' in the accident which they said was caused by a flat tire.

Compliant and heavily censored local media later reported that 'nobody was injured' in the crash.

However, viewers of the video were quick to point out that there was little chance that the drivers escaped unharmed and were most likely killed.

One wrote: 'No one was hurt? I don't think so. That big of a flame definitely caused some burns.'

Dennis Estrada added: 'In China, they don't report accident deaths to maintain harmony, so yes someone died and is deleted from the system.'

Officials said that despite both vehicles being 'damaged', the driver, Mr Wu, 45, was not injured along with the driver of the second truck that was caught up in the explosion.

A statement from the Traffic Police department of the Shandong Provincial Public Security Bureau said: 'On July 19, 2022 at 19:03, Wu, a male aged 45, Drove the light van loaded with plastic materials and bleaches east to west along G20 Qingdao-Yingchuan expressway.

'The vehicle's right tire exploded, causing the car to roll over from the second lane to the third lane, the fire later erupted from the back of the van. The fire then hit and ignited the heavy semi-trailer truck, with the license plate Lu Q, registered in in Linyi city, Shandong, which was loaded with iron powder and driven by by Mr Zhao.

'On 19:04, the police from the Zhangdian brigade of the fifth detachment of the traffic police corps of Shandong Provincial Public Security Department patrol were called into the accident area, 250 km away from the Qinghai-Yinchuan expressway.

'Firstly, the police made a situation report, then the police contacted the fire department, road administration, and highway management authority for co-operation on the rescue operation and investigation of the accident.

'At 19:42, the fire was extinguished and by 20:54, two lanes of the highway returned to service. By July 20, at 00:30, the highway returned to normal service.

'As the result, the accident caused two vehicles to be damaged, with no casualties.'

'Currently the fire department is investigatiing the cause of the fire, and the follow-up treatment of the accident is progressing in an orderly manner.'

China accounts for a fifth of road fatalities in the world but officials and compliant media often censor or withhold information from accidents to avoid tarnishing the image of the Communist regime.